


Lost in the World

by Seriousler



Category: The Ultimate Sidemen
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Football | Soccer, Harry is a freshman, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Simon is a senior, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, WIP, erm, unedited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:39:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seriousler/pseuds/Seriousler
Summary: Harry is a slightly socially awkward freshman in high school, trying to get through the grueling school work and footie practices with his trusty best friend, Manny.Simon is the confident, unreachable, senior who is co-captain of the varsity football team, and the subject of Harry's massive crush.





	1. New School, Same Old

Sometimes Harry regretted staying up into the early hours of the morning playing FIFA and GTA with Manny.

Now was definitely one of those times.

"Harry!" Rosie called, opening the door and rapping it several times with her knuckles.

Harry groaned and rolled over. "Bloody hell... wassit" he muttered, blearily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before reaching over to check his charging phone.

It was 7:15, on his first day of high school. FUCK.

"Oh my Christ!" He yelled, throwing his phone back onto his nightstand and sprinting to his door, nearly knocking over Rosie in his wake as he made a break for the bathroom to take a shower.

...

After the quickest shower of his life, Harry quickly put on some pants, his favorite trackies, a blue jumper, and mismatched socks before pulling on his battered Adidas superstars that he never bothered to unlace. He grabbed his phone and backpack, before running downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat before his ride came.

Rosie was sitting with Josh in front of the TV, watching cartoons and eating bowls of cereal. Their school day didn't start until later, the lucky skets.

His mum was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter reading the newspaper with a cup of tea, his dad's keys were missing from the hook, meaning that he'd, unsurprisingly, already left for work. She smiled when he crashed into the room, and passed him an apple and protein bar, along with money for lunch.

"Have a great first day honey, you'll be great!" She said, smoothing his waylay hair a little before kissing him on the forehead, as he muttered a thanks and love you before stuffing the money and food into his pockets, and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

As he took a bite of the apple, his phone dinged with a notification.

 **Monstah:** here

 **Monstah:** you'd better not still be asleep

 **Hazza:** i wish

Harry ran to the door and pulled it open, grinning wildly when he saw Tobi's car parked in front. He walked, for once, to the vehicle, pulling open the backdoor, and plopped into the seat, smiling when he heard Skepta playing quietly from the speakers.

"Hey Haz," Tobi greeted, not looking up from his phone that he was wildly texting on.

Harry greeted Tobi jovially, before fist bumping Manny, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"You look like shit, mate," His friend snickered.

Harry stuck his tongue out at his friend, in too much of a good mood to rebuke with much more than a "fuck off", before taking another bite of his apple.

After finally finishing his texting, Tobi put the car into drive and pulled away from Harry's house, towards new beginnings.

....

The Harefield Academy loomed before Harry and Manny. The thought of getting out of the familiar comfort of Tobi's car felt daunting to both of the young men.

Tobi, sensing their apprehension, took his seat belt off and turned to give both of the boys a serious look. "You guys will be fine, just go to the front office to collect your schedules, and then go to your homeroom. Today is a modified schedule, so homeroom is before first period. I suggest taking a picture of your schedule so you're not walking around school with the paper, that's a dead giveaway that you're a freshman. Anyway, that's about it." He finished his statement with a winning grin.

Shaking slightly with nerves, Harry smiled winningly at Tobi, hoping he didn't look as scared shitless as he felt. He most definitely did.

"You guys'll do fine, just be chill," Tobi repeated himself one last time, before taking his keys out of the ignition and reaching back to get his bag from the backseat, getting out of the car.

Harry and Manny quickly followed suit, grabbing their bags and unbuckling their seat belts, before following Tobi towards the school entrance.

Manny quickly snapchatted a picture of the double doors in front of them, adding a fitting caption of 'fml' before turning to Harry. "You excited bro?" He asked, knocking elbows with Harry.

"Yeah man, especially for football tryouts. What time are they again?" Harry smiled, the thought of football making him slightly less nervous and more excited.

They had followed the crowd to the front office, and were now waiting in a long line of other freshmen, waiting to receive their schedules.

Manny smirked, "I can't believe you've already forgotten, Tobi has literally told us both at least ten times. They're at 4."

Tobi was the co-captain of the varsity football team, and he had been practicing with Harry and Manny throughout the summer to ensure that they were prepared for the tryouts, and to hopefully make the varsity team. It was rare for freshmen to be placed on the varsity team, as they were typically put on the freshmen or even junior-varsity team, but Tobi had been confident that Manny and Harry were good enough to play in varsity straight away, which was both exciting and slightly terrifying, considering Harefield Academy's football team was one of the best in the country.

"Oh yeah!" Harry giggled, realizing his friend was only joking about being annoyed about Harry's forgetfulness. It was a common theme in their friendship, Manny being the collected one, while Harry was typically a forgetful mess.

Soon enough, they were at the front of the line, and the frazzled looking receptionist gave Manny and Harry their schedules and of course... they didn't have the same homeroom. Harry being in room 802, whereas Manny was in room 403.

The friends parted ways reluctantly, agreeing to text each other once they were in their respective homerooms.

Harry went in the direction that he believed was the way to the 800 wing from the quick glance he had taken of the map on the back of the schedule, which was in his pocket, not out for all of the upperclassmen to see, as Tobi had suggested.

Eventually, after a couple of turns, Harry saw 800's on top of the doors, and sighed in relief. He made it to 802, and walked in hesitantly.

It was a nice room, if a little bit plain. The teacher's desk was in a corner, there was a whiteboard and a projector hanging from the wall, and of course a shitload of desks. Less than half of said desks were occupied, but then again, half of the student body was still wandering the halls, meeting up with friends and discussing schedules.

Harry plopped down in a seat that was on the side away from the teacher's desk, to avoid as much interaction as possible, and that was halfway in the row, so he wasn't in the front or the back. If Manny had been here, he wouldn't have cared, but since he didn't really know a lot of other people, he didn't want to seem like a teacher's pet, or antisocial.

The room was obviously a math room, which was evidenced by the shelves of precalculus and calculus books. Harry frowned at the thought of math, and pulled out his schedule. He had geometry third period. Shit.

Harry wasn't particularly good or bad at school. He'd been on at least the honor roll every semester in his school years, which had been enough for his parents, and he was taking some honors courses this year. If he applied himself, he could probably be top 10 in the class, but that just took too much concentration.

The room was starting to fill up. A short caramel skinned boy sat in front of Harry, while a slightly tubby boy sat in front of him. They were talking and laughing about something, which made Harry wish even more that he wasn't as socially awkward as he was.

He wished that he wasn't labeled as the slightly flighty boy who consistently forgot what day of the week it was and was prone to leaving his phone in strange places or wear his shirts backwards without realizing it. Maybe high school would be a fresh start, and people wouldn't judge him as much. At least, that was his hope.  
  
  


Harry's reverie was broken by a sharp bell, signalling that the students in the hallway had three minutes to get to class.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and smiled when he saw a text from Manny. It was a picture of his schedule.

They had practically the same schedule, except period G, when Harry had French, Manny had Spanish. That was the only difference.

 **Harry:** k so bio is in the 400 wing by u, wait 4 me?

 **Manny:** of course man

 **Manny:** Dixon is in my homeroom, anyone we know in yours?

Harry glanced around the room to try and see any familiar faces. There were none that stuck out to him right away, which was unsurprising, he always had trouble connecting names to faces.

 **Harry:** nah man, my hr is dead

The final bell that signaled that homeroom was set to start rang, which caused for the teacher in the corner at his desk to stand and close the door. He stood in the front of the class, and clapped his hands together to gather everyone's attention. He introduced himself as Mr. Bailey, and was just starting his welcome back to school speech before a loud knock on the door interrupted him.

Harry, already barely paying attention, watched lazily as the teacher walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a tall, blonde boy, who had striking blue eyes. There was something about him that was familiar, and that Harry couldn't quite put his finger on. He'd definitely seen this boy before.

"Ah, Mr. Minter, already late to class?" Mr. what's his name joked, gesturing the boy into the classroom, causing for some snickers to be released from some of the students.

Minter smiled bashfully, showing a deep set dimple and sparkling white teeth, "Sorry Mr. Bailey, it won't happen again, I had car trouble." His voice was slightly deep, but not as deep as you'd expect it to be with his height, and Harry found that he wouldn't mind if the boy was giving the speech instead of the damned teacher.

Mr. Bailey waved away his apology, obviously they knew each other, and told him to find a seat.

The boy sat diagonally from Harry, next to the caramel skinned boy, and smiled at them both in recognition, reaching out a fist for the tubby boy to bump.

Mr. Bailey then continued on with his speech that had been previously interrupted, droning on about the dress code, what the schedule would be like for the next couple weeks, and so on. Harry leaned on his fist and resisted the urge to yawn. He knew that he should really be paying attention, but he was so tired that he couldn't help it.

Finally, the teacher ended his speech just as the bell rang. Harry happily shouldered his bag and exited the classroom, following the picture he had on his phone to the 400 wing.

....

First day's of school were always uneventful, just lecture after lecture of what the class would cover, what the policies were, and so on. Once lunch finally came around, Harry was bored out of his skull, and hungry as fuck.

Harry and Manny waited in line to get their wraps, and made their way over to a table where Chris and a couple of their other soccer friends were sitting. They were all talking about the upcoming soccer team tryouts, as well as their schedules and what girls were in their classes and so on. Harry wasn't really paying attention, just eating his turkey wrap and carrot sticks, until he spotted a familiar blonde quiff from across the cafeteria.

The boy from homeroom was sitting with the other two guys who he'd obviously known in the homeroom, Tobi, and a couple of other faces that Harry didn't recognize.

Tapping Manny on the shoulder, Harry asked "Who's Tobi sitting with?"

Manny, who had been sitting and listening to the conversation, turned to Harry and looked over his shoulder, recognition flaring across his face. "Oh, those are the sidemen."

"The what?" Harry asked, confused.

Rolling his eyes jokingly at Harry's not knowing, Manny elaborated. "They're a group of juniors and seniors who play football and game a little like you and I. There's Tobi, and Simon, the other co-captain of the football team, with the blonde hair, then there's Josh, the one with the beard, then Ethan, the one who laughs a lot, then there's Vik, the short Indian guy, and finally there's JJ, the one with the whack haircut."

Harry blinked when he realized that homeroom boy was THE Simon Minter. He remembered him now that he heard his whole name. He was arguably one of the most popular boys in the school.

Figures, he was also probably the most attractive. And apparently he was ace at football, if Harry remembered correctly.

Manny continued on. "I'm surprised you don't recognize Simon at least, he's over at mine all the time. And he plays in Tobi's league."

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry took another bite of a carrot and pulled out his phone to check snapchat, wondering if Simon remembered him at all.  
  
  


After lunch, Manny and Harry walked together to English. There was only three periods left of school until football tryouts, and Harry was starting to feel the nerves tightening in his gut.  
  
  


Next, Harry had French and Manny had Spanish, but at least the two classes were in the same wing, so they were able to walk there together, and then meet up afterwards to go to PE, their final class of the day.  
  
  


With both of their backpacks crammed full of all the textbooks their teachers had passed out, Harry and Manny made their way to Tobi's car, where they dropped their bags off and grabbed their gym bags filled with their footie gear.

After they had changed into their gear and boots, they made their way down to the football pitch, laughing and discussing their tactics and what drills they were least looking forward to.

...

When the pitch came into view, Harry felt the nerves that had been present all day tighten in his gut even more, and he let out a shaky breath when he saw the upperclassmen. They all looked so tall and competent, while Harry was slightly scrawny and at least a couple inches shorter than most of the boys there.

YONAS was blaring from a speaker, and most people were either kicking a ball back and forth or doing other warm-ups. Manny and Harry decided to run a couple laps around the pitch, since it was still only 3:30.

After their third lap, Tobi waved them over to where he was standing in the middle of the pitch with Simon. They jogged over, Harry slightly apprehensive at the thought of meeting the tall blonde officially.

"Simon, this is my brother and his friend, the one I was telling you about." Tobi said, gesturing at Manny and Harry.

Simon nodded, looking over Manny and Harry closely. Harry felt a flush go over his face, and hoped that the rest of the boys attributed it to his running. He locked gazes with Simon, and flushed even harder, diverting his eyes to the way the sun made the tips of his small quiff glow slightly.

"Yeah of course I remember Manny, and Harry, right?" The sound of his voice saying Harry's name made a shiver run up and down his spine, and all he could do is nod shakily and hold out his hand for the taller man to shake.

After a while of them shooting the shit, Tobi dismissed Manny and Harry to go warm-up some more, and walked away with Simon, leaving Harry there, feeling like a fish on land.

Manny grabbed a football, and poked Harry's side, breaking his daze, and gestured for him to start some more warm-ups with him.  
  
  


Eventually, the coach called everyone over to him with a sharp whistle. Harry and Manny made their way over to stand by the group of some other freshmen they knew, including Chris. The coach introduced himself, and then went on a long spiel about how the varsity team was only looking for a select number of new players to replace the seniors who had graduated, five to be exact, and he went over how there would be two days of tryouts, and only how a select few of them would be asked to come back for the second tryout, and everyone else would be put on either the junior varsity or freshmen team.

Harry zoned out, and shifted his gaze from the coach's gesticulations to Simon, who was standing on the coach's right hand side. Harry took in his broad shoulders and long legs, paying special attention to the prominent veins on his arms, and traveled his eyes back up to study his face, only to find Simon looking right at him.

Shit! Harry quickly turned his attention back at the coach, feeling his neck heat up with embarrassment. Why was he such a fuck up?

He glanced over one more time to see if Simon was still looking at him, and gulped when he saw that the co-captain was still looking at him, head cocked to the side, as if in deep thought. How was it possible for one person to be so attractive?

The coach suddenly clapped his hands together, and everyone scattered. Harry turned to Manny questioningly, who just shook his head disapprovingly and gestured for him to follow.

"You're really out of it today man, you good?" He asked as they jogged around the field. Harry guessed they were doing laps, and upped his speed to match Manny's.

"I'm good, just a little tired." Harry lied, keeping his eyes on Simon's form by the coach, watching the group and talking to Tobi.

Manny just squinted at Harry out of the corner of his eye disbelievingly, before speeding up to pass a slower upperclassman, leaving Harry to scramble around as well to keep up with him.

Breathing deeply through his mouth, Harry panted a "you don't have to be so salty," only to be shut down completely with a " _you_ don't have to lie to me." Ouch.

Manny knew that Harry was gay, he was the first person that Harry came out to, and one of the most understanding. He just wouldn't approve of Harry liking Simon, someone who was most likely completely straight and who would definitely leave him brokenhearted.

Looking around to ensure that no one was close enough to overhear them, Harry gritted out "Simon is quite fit," through his teeth, deciding that honesty was the best policy right now.

His friend looked over with surprise written openly on his usually passive face, before grinning. "That explains everything! Harry's got a little crush!"

Harry pushed him jokingly, and they were laughing when the coach blew the whistle, signalling for them to stop the laps.  
  
  


After doing some strength exercises and basic drills, the coach had Simon lead a drill for the freshmen only while he did some with the upperclassmen, and Manny, of course, elbowed Harry roughly when Simon called them all to gather in front of him.

"All right, this is going to be a more individual oriented drill. We want to see how you respond to pressure from one defender and a goalie, so basically it's a 1v2. Who wants to go first?" Harry was actually listening to Simon, the soothing but also engaging cadence in his voice being easy for him to follow.

Chris Dixon, bless him, volunteered to go first. He was at least a head shorter than Simon. Harry had faith in him though, Chris played in his and Manny's league, and he was actually very good, especially with ball handling.

Chris brought the ball down from the top of the D, before obviously getting nervous from Simon approaching him, and juked right and left before attempting to nutmeg the opening between Simon's legs, which the taller blocked with ease, smiling a bit "Good effort, just try to be less predictable."

Hopeful after hopeful went up afterwards, some making it as close to bringing it by the goal, but it was always blocked by Tobi.

Finally, Manny went up, and Harry grinned. They had practiced 1v2s during the summertime with Tobi, and definitely had a little bit more finesse than some of the other freshmen here.

Manny dribbled the ball slowly from the D, before sweeping his leg as if he was going to kick it to the far left, and then hit the ball with his left foot, successfully juking Simon, before running to the goal, taking a shot around the penalty area, ramming it to the top left, sinking it just seconds before Tobi's gloved hands reached the area.

Harry whooped, grinning wildly at his friend's antics. There hadn't been a doubt in Harry's mind that Manny would have made the goal, he was a natural at football.

Simon leaned down with his hands on his knees, looking between Manny and Tobi and then Harry with a thoughtful expression. Finally, he rested his gaze on Harry and smirked. "Your turn Harry."

Damn, he didn't even get to choose when to go, Simon chose for him? Pursing his lips slightly, Harry picked up one of the balls and set it on the top of the D, returning the fist Manny offered when he walked by to watch with the other freshmen.

Harry wasn't very strong in offense, he had pretty good control skills, but the sheer power he could put behind the balls at times made him a natural defender.

He decided that his best bet was to act before Simon had a chance to set himself up and observe his patterns, so he immediately dribbled the ball down, and when Simon went to meet him, he rolled his foot over the ball, moving to the left. He felt Simon's presence by his side, so he stepped his right foot over in front of the ball and kicked it off his left to move over to the other side, and then Simon moved in front of him again, he punted it off of his left leg, sprinting around his side to then kick it at the goal with as much power as he could muster with limited leg room, gasping when it hit Tobi's leg, but then raising his arms with victory when it flew into the side of the goal.

Manny sprinted over, yelling something nonsensically, and Tobi ran over to grab him in a headlock, mussing his hair as he praised him.

Harry locked eyes with Simon, and saw amusement as well as a glimmer of something warm. Pride? Admiration? Whatever it was, it made butterflies flutter in Harry's gut.  
  
  


The first tryouts then ended with everyone lined up by year. The coach and co-captains were discussing over a clipboard in the middle of the field, deciding who they wanted to come back for the varsity tryouts and then who they wanted on the other teams. Harry and Manny were standing together, nervously making small talk.

There was no doubt in Harry's mind that Manny would be asked to come back the second day of the varsity tryouts, but it was up in the air whether or not he himself would get invited. He really hadn't gotten the chance to show off his defensive skills, and while he was all right in offense, he didn't have as much raw talent as Manny or Chris did. While Manny at times was natural with the ball, Harry had had to stay up late into the night when he was younger perfecting his skills, and while he was proud of how far he had come, there was no way for the coach to know, unless he contacted Harry's league coach or if Tobi put the good word in for him.

Finally, the coach came over with Simon and Tobi and began calling the names of people who were chosen for the freshmen team. All of the freshmen were called over into their own group, except for Chris, Manny, and Harry.

The coach then named the people who would be on the junior varsity team, until there were only ten people standing in the original lines, including the three freshmen.

Harry started to break out in a nervous sweat. What if he wasn't chosen for any of the teams? The humiliation would be unbearable.

He listened closely to the coach's next words. "And finally, the people who we want to come back to tomorrow's varsity prospect tryouts. The last ten of you are invited." The coach paused when the group of boys turned to give each other pats on the backs and high fives. "Varsity tryouts tomorrow are at 4:00 again, freshmen practice is at 5:30, and junior varsity practice is at 7:00. Thank you, and rest up for tomorrow."

Holding back tears, Harry turned to embrace Manny roughly, grinning when the other whispered into his ear. "We did it boggo, we did it."


	2. These Are the Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day of school and tryouts!

When Harry finally got home, he was so tired from the stress of the first school day and the physical exertion of tryouts that he refused his mother's offers for dinner and just took a shower and went to bed. 

 

In the morning, Harry's actual alarm woke him up at 6:30, rather than Rosie. Groaning tiredly, he wasn't a morning person, Harry rolled over to turn the alarm off, and yelped when he accidentally fell off of the bed in a tangle of limbs and blankets.

"Fuck," He exclaimed, lying on the floor with the tinny sound of his alarm still blaring in his ears.

 

After taking another shower to help him wake up, even though he'd taken one the night before, Harry changed into a pair of grey joggers and a white t-shirt, not bothering to put shoes on yet before trudging down the stairs to get breakfast.

His father was just getting ready to leave, for another trip it looked like, his briefcase in one hand and a suitcase, but when he saw Harry he smiled and set them down to engulf him in a hug. "I'm proud of you, Haz." He muttered into Harry's hair.

Harry smiled and hugged him back. He loved his father, even though he was away most of the time for work. "Thanks dad." 

The hug ended too soon for Harry's liking, as his dad had to beat the London traffic to get to the terminal, and Harry slumped into one of the stools at the counter, nodding at his mother's offer of pancakes. 

Soon Rosie and Josh both ran down the stairs at breakneck speeds, both still in their pajamas, and they all sat around the counter, eating pancakes and talking about random things, except for Harry, who stayed quiet. 

 

 

When Tobi and Manny finally picked Harry up, he still had a slightly depressed aura about him, which he knew both of them picked up on, but Manny didn't say anything until they had reached school and were walking to their first period class. 

"You good man?" Manny asked, and at Harry's shrug, he pressed on. "Is it about football?" Harry shook his head no. "Is it about... you know who?" Harry guessed this meant Simon, so he once again shook his head no. "Is it about your dad?" 

Harry didn't respond to the last question, which he supposed was a dead giveaway, but Manny just nodded and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, whispering "he loves you Haz, he just is having a busy time at work, that's all."

Feeling slightly better, Harry cracked a slight smile, which made Manny poke his side.

 

The rest of the school day inched by without much difficulty, but most teachers were already starting to assign homework, which made Harry want to suffocate under the mountain of papers and books. 

By the end of the day, Harry was looking forward to take out all of his frustration on the pitch. Manny seemed to understand his mood, because he remained mostly quiet, only making small talk occasionally as they were getting ready for tryouts.

 

When they got down to the pitch, Harry went to jog a couple laps immediately, leaving Manny to scramble to catch up with him. After four laps, Manny tugged on his shirt and said that the coach was calling them together.

Harry shook his head, he had been in such a trance that he had forgotten that they had tryouts. They were the last ones to jog over to the coach, and Tobi shook his head at them, but Harry could hardly find it within himself to care. He was already just so done with this day. 

"Welcome back to the second day of tryouts," Coach what's his name (Harry really needed to remember his name) greeted, "today is going to be primarily about showing your versatility. Our team doesn't need just another striker to shoot at the opponents goal, we need defensive players who are willing to tackle the ball at whatever means, and most importantly, we need team players." 

Actually listening for once, Harry felt his gut tighten. He knew that he was a versatile player, that was one of his greatest traits, according to his league coach. 

"We'll start the tryouts with laps. Let's say six." 

Harry had to hold back a sigh. He shouldn't have fazed out and ran so much before. 

 

After six laps, Harry actually didn't feel as bad as he was expecting to. In fact, the burn in his legs seemed almost energizing, so when the coach asked for them to do two person ball handling drills, he grinned at Manny. They had practiced these extra over the summer.

Harry knew that he and Manny were in sync, and when he glanced over at Simon for the first time in the tryouts, he saw that his lips were curved up in a slight smile.

 

After drills they moved onto a small scrimmage, with Harry, Manny and Chris with two sophomores (Cal and Lewis) vs five juniors whom Harry didn't know the names of. 

Cal went in goal, because he was the tallest, and Harry and Lewis stayed back on defense, leaving Chris and Manny to go on the offensive. 

The scrimmage started off well, Chris, Manny, and Harry all played together in league, so they knew each other's patterns and tendencies. Harry and Lewis had actually had to move up to the halfway line, because Chris and Manny were dominating on offense. 

Harry only had to do a couple of defensive chips at first, but when one of the juniors made a break for it, he sprinted as fast as he could to intercept it, tackling the ball away with ease and then deflecting it to waiting Manny, who went on to score a goal.

 

The coach ended the scrimmage when it was 3-0, and muttered something to Simon and Tobi, making them both laugh. 

"The last exercise we'll do it defensive based, a 1v2, versus Simon, with Tobi in the goal." 

The sophomores and juniors trying out all visibly deflated, and Manny swore under his breath. Harry knew that Simon was a good player, but was he really that good?

The answer to that question was yes. 

Simon had gotten the ball past everyone and into the goal, and Tobi was actually trying to block, Harry could tell. 

He was the last person, and he kind of wished he hadn't waited this long. 

Tobi pulled him aside for a second before Simon brought the ball down. "Watch his hips, not his feet," he muttered. Harry nodded in understanding, that was defending 101.

When Simon came closer and closer, Harry went to meet him, not wanting for him to get too close to the goal. They danced back and forth for a while, Simon trying to sneak in through the left, and when Harry didn't let him, he went right, which Harry didn't allow either. This went on for a while, and when Harry looked up once to study Simon's face, he saw a breathless smile gracing his beautiful features. 

This caused for him to pause slightly, and when Harry left a little too much space, Simon attempted to chip it over his head.

Even though Harry wasn't very tall, he was quick, and he jumped up to intercept the ball with a header, chasing down the ball when it flew to the far right. He could feel Simon sprinting after him, and when a long arm reached in front of him to slow him down, he pushed it away and protected the ball when he reached it, kicking it out of bounds roughly. 

A silence fell over the pitch for a few moments, before Manny whooped and ran over, knocking Harry over to the ground with a crushing hug. Tobi ran over too, and pushed Simon away jokingly before jumping on top of Manny, making both freshmen groan at the weight. 

 

The tryouts again ended with them lined up, this time just the ten of them, not separated into classes. 

"Before I announce who's on the team, I just want for all of you to know that you all were deserving of playing on the varsity level. We only have five spots to fill, and I chose the players that I thought out of the five of you would work the best with the team that we have this year." The coach paused then for emphasis, and Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. "Anyway, let's get right to it, when I call your name I want for you to step forward. Callum Airey," the tall boy who was their goalie for the scrimmage stepped forward, "Manny Brown," Harry slapped Manny's shoulder, grinning, "Lewis Redman ***** ," the other sophomore who was on their scrimmage team stepped forward, "Chris Dixon," Chris stepped forward, a small smile on his lips. Before the coach announced the last person, Harry felt like his heart was in his throat. If he wasn't called forward, he wouldn't be on varsity, it was obvious.

The next words were almost enough to make him fall on his knees.  

"Harry Lewis."

Manny turned and gave him a grin, and they wrapped their arms around each other, waiting for the coach to say the final words.

"Everyone who I asked to step forward are a part of the varsity team. Everyone who stayed is joining the JV team. Practice for varsity is tomorrow at 4, JV it's at 7."

Harry stopped listening to the coach's rambling, too busy focusing on not passing out, from exhaustion and shock. They'd done it, they'd both made the varsity football team. 

The feeling of arms tighten around Harry, and he realizes that it's both Tobi and Manny, once again. He hugs them both back tightly, laughing at nothing.

 

....

 

After tryouts, Tobi took them to Nando's to celebrate. 

The waitress had looked slightly disgusted at their rumpled, grass stained, athletic wear, but took their orders just the same.

Harry was chewing on his straw rather than drinking the water that he really should drink to re-hydrate, looking around the restaurant boredly, and he almost didn't hear Manny's sly question aimed at Tobi.

"So Tobi, tell me about Simon." 

He whipped his head so quickly to glare at Manny that his neck hurt afterwards, but he didn't care. Tobi knew that Harry was gay, of course, but Harry didn't want for him to know about the embarrassing crush that he had on his best mate. 

Tobi looked up from where he was texting on his phone, as usual, raising an eyebrow in confusion at Manny's sudden question. "Simon... as in, Simon Minter?" 

Manny nodded slowly, as if he was talking to a three year old, which made Harry snort and cover his face with both hands. He peaked through his fingertips to  watch the cringe-worthy scene unfold before him. Manny had no tact, and usually said things the way they were, which was a quality that Harry both loved and feared.

"I don't know if you've suddenly developed long term memory loss or something. Simon is the same old Simon as he always was. Sarcastic, nerdy, and unnecessarily tall." Tobi said, picking up his fanta to take a drink, raising his eyebrows challengingly at Manny.

Rolling his eyes, Manny elaborated. "I mean, you've known him for like six years. We just want to know more about our new footie captain is all." 

"One, he's your new footie _co_ -captain, along with me, and two, why don't you ask him now, he's right over there." Tobi had a shit eating grin on his face as he pointed behind the two freshman. 

Manny and Harry exchanged a wide eyed glance, before turning around in unison, seeing no one other than Simon Minter at the pickup counter, texting on his phone, looking sexy as ever. 

When the hostess gave him his takeaway bag, he turned to leave, but of fucking course Manny called out _"Hey Simon!"_ in a loud voice that made Harry flinch and had several people who were trying to eat their meal's in peace turn to glare at them. 

The tall blonde in question looked around when he heard his name, and smiled when he saw who it was. Harry turned around in his seat as the boy approached, trying to control his breathing and appear unaffected. Manny's bony elbow jabbing into him wasn't helping.

"Hey," Simon greeted, coming to a stop at their table. He really was so tall, Harry marveled, having to crane his neck up to look at him when he was this close.

"You going somewhere man?" Tobi asked, and when Simon shook his head no, he moved to make room for him in the booth, patting the space for him to sit.

Of course, it was right across from Harry, who was practically having a stroke. He hadn't been this close to Simon for a prolonged period of time, and the smell of his cologne was both relaxing and intoxicating. Fuck.

Manny's smile grew wider, if possible, and he kicked Harry's foot under the table when Simon sat down, causing for Harry to stomp on his.

The two others sitting at the table looked up when Manny yelped in pain, but Harry just smiled innocently at them, taking a sip of his water. 

Their food arrived then, and Simon pulled his wrap out of the takeaway box to eat too. Tobi and Simon were the ones who mostly talked, about their classes, then about Harry and Manny's teachers and what they had liked and disliked about the courses.

It was actually nice. Simon took Manny's bluntness and Harry's awkward interjections in with stride, making effort to include both of them in the conversation. 

When the topic of football came up, they began to discuss what positions would be best for Manny and Harry.

"Manny is definitely made to be a winger with me, there's no question about it, and Harry is perfect for centerback, his crosses are great and he's not afraid of the ball or the opposing players." Tobi said, gesturing at Harry with one of his chips.

Simon nodded, looking Harry up and down thoughtfully, making him wish he hadn't just taken a big bite of salad. "Yeah, he's not very tall though."

Manny interjected, "He's fast though, and he usually plays centerback or fullback in league anyway." 

With everyone at the table looking at him, Harry swallowed and shrugged uncomfortably, not sure what to say.

Tobi grinned. "Humble Harry." 

Harry stuck his tongue out at him, taking another bite of his salad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * = rip i have no idea what Lewis' last name is so I just put redman
> 
> hope you enjoy, next chapter is coming very,very, soon ;)
> 
> I appreciate any comments, <3 you guys


	3. Can't Feel My Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House parties are totally a rite of passage in highschool, right?

On the Friday of the first week, Manny informed Harry that they had been invited to a house party, being held by no one else than Simon Minter.

"His parties are practically legend, and the whole football team is always invited, so we should definitely go." Manny enthused, as they went to their lockers to grab their biology books at the beginning of the day.

Harry had never been to a house party before, and the thought was honestly kind of daunting, but what sold it was the fact that it was Simon's. So he texted his mum asking her if she would let him sleep over at Manny's, and she of course assented. 

 

By the end of the day, Manny was practically jumping off the walls with excitement, while Harry, for once, was more subdued. He knew at the party there would be drugs and alcohol, and that didn't scare him as much as the thought that he might embarrass himself in front of the entire footie team if he wasn't careful.

After a particularly hard football practice, Simon called the team over to huddle after. "I know most of you are coming to the party after, and I just wanted for you to know that I have everything already. It starts at 9." 

The team ended the huddle with a collective fist bump, and a hoo-ah.

 

 

Tobi brought Manny and Harry back to their house first, to shower and change.

After Harry showered, he put on some spare joggers that he had left at Manny's house, and one of Manny's white shirts that was a size too small on him, but Manny insisted that it made him look "fuckable", whatever that means. 

Once they had all showered, they all sat in the living room watching footie reruns until it was 7:30, and Tobi said they had to go to Simon's to help set up. 

 

As they pulled up to the brick... mansion, for lack of a better term, Harry felt his jaw open slightly. Of course Simon was loaded, something that made him even more unattainable. 

Tobi pulled into one of the four, yeah that's right,  _four_ , car garages, and led Manny and Harry to the side entrance, and let them in with a spare key. 

"Hey," Tobi called, dropping his keys on the marble counter tops of a fucking ginormous kitchen. The house was beautiful, not as beautiful as Simon, but still, Harry was pretty sure that the kitchen was the size of his house's entire first floor. 

An answering call resounded from another room, and Tobi led Harry and Manny out of the kitchen and to a door that led downstairs. Once they reached the bottom and into the finished basement, Harry blushed when he saw a shirtless Simon walking around with a box, putting miscellaneous things inside. JJ was there too, sitting on a couch on his phone, and Ethan was vacuuming the carpet.   

"Can't have anyone breaking any of this shit, last party some dumb track star broke one of my mother's Ming vases, and I never heard the end of that." Simon muttered at the questioning looks of Manny and Harry, and carried the overflowing box to another room.

Sharing a shrug, Manny and Harry helped Tobi set up a couple of tables, and then when Josh came down with bottles and bottles of alcohol, they set it up on the table, along with solo cups.

The rest of the sidemen showed up soon after, and everyone made quick work of the party preparations.

Once 9 came around, the place had really come together, and all of the sidemen, along with Harry and Manny, shared a high five. 

Simon ran upstairs to get changed, and Manny passed Harry a cup of orange juice mixed with something, probably vodka. Thinking fuck it, Harry took a sip of the drink, making a face at the slight aftertaste. Manny snickered, sipping his own drink.

 

Soon the basement was starting to fill up, with the football team and others, mostly upperclassmen. 

After a couple drinks Harry was feeling a little tipsy, and had somehow lost Manny in the sea of bodies, so he decided that getting another drink was a great idea, because why the fuck not?

Yeah, maybe he was a little more than tipsy.  

Most of the alcohol at the tables had been picked over, but Harry spied a bottle of Jägermeister, whatever that was, that was barely touched, so he poured himself a hefty portion.  

The music playing from the speakers around the basement was pounding, and it was hot as hell from all the people crowded around, so Harry decided to go upstairs with his drink. There was probably a slim chance that he could find Manny in all of those people anyway.

Some of the party-goers had trickled upstairs too, like there was a couple drunkenly making out on one of the couches in the formal sitting room, which Harry wrinkled his nose at. 

Deciding that fresh air is what he really needed, Harry went out on the balcony and sat on one of the wicker chairs, curling his legs under himself and taking a sip of the drink. He nearly spat it out it was so strong, but he eventually swallowed it with difficulty. 

It was pretty outside, the trees by the porch swayed slightly in the breeze, and the deep bass of the music was almost inaudible from out here. 

Suddenly the patio door opened, and Simon Minter stepped out, a can of beer in one hand and a joint in the other. 

Harry stiffened, about to get up and leave Simon to be alone, but the tall blonde just waved a hand at him, before stretching out on the bench that was directly in front of Harry. 

They sat in silence for a while, both just enjoying each other's company.

"You liking the party so far?" Simon asked, taking a sip of his beer while staring up at the stars. 

Nodding, Harry took a more sparing sip of the drink in his cup, managing to not make a face. 

Simon put the joint in his mouth and took a lighter out of his jogger's pocket, lighting the end of it. He took a long drag of it, and closed his eyes when he exhaled. Harry had never seen him so relaxed before, and he wanted to take his phone out of his pocket and take a picture of the scene, to keep it forever.

Tilting his head to look at Harry, Simon held out the joint in an offering. 

Harry wanted to try, but he felt nerves tighten in his throat. "I-I've never..." 

"Tried it before?" Simon finished his sentence gently, smiling softly when Harry nodded. "You don't have to if you don't want-"

"I do!" Harry interrupted, flushing in embarrassment at his interjection before taking another sip of his liquid courage. 

Chuckling, Simon continued. "Just take a drag then, like this" he brought the joint to his lips again and inhaled deeply, before bringing it away from his lips and exhaling slowly. 

Harry took the joint from Simon's long fingers with a slightly shaky hand, before bringing it up to his lips. Simon's dark eyes watched as he took a light drag of the joint, and then exhaled it slowly through his nose.

There was something euphoric about this moment, whether it was Simon's gaze or the weed, Harry wasn't sure, but he never wanted for it to end, so he took another, deeper drag.

They shared the joint between each other, and by the time the joint was a stub, Harry was on the wooden porch floor rather than sitting on the chair, his head resting against the bench that Simon was lying on. 

He giggled at the curse Simon let out when he realized that his beer had ran out, and when Simon asked for a sip of Harry's drink, he picked it up, sloshing some of it over himself with his unsteady hand. 

"Jesus, Jäger? No wonder you're so fucked," Simon muttered after taking a sip of the alcohol. 

Harry hummed in assent, not really knowing what he was talking about, before falling limp on the floor, his limbs not being able to hold him up anymore.

"You good?" Simon asked, leaning over with a concerned expression on his face.

Harry's answering snore brought a grin to his face.

 

.... 

 

Harry woke up in an unfamiliar bed with a pounding headache. He moaned, turning his head further into the fluffy pillows.

After a couple minutes of trying to fall asleep again and failing, Harry sat up, squinting at the slight light that was coming from behind the curtains covering the windows. He tried to gauge his surroundings, but it was too dark in the room to really be able to tell. 

Just then, a door opened, letting steam and light into the room. Harry turned, and almost yelped when he saw Simon walk out in nothing but a towel.

"Sorry babe, forgot to grab clothes," Simon said, and Harry was so flustered that he almost didn't catch the endearment. 

He squinted at Simon's back as he walked to his dresser, and he was about to ask what he meant when the blonde dropped the towel around his waist, revealing his great ass.

Harry actually did yelp this time, covering his eyes with both hands. If he wasn't careful he would get hard, which would be soooo bad. 

"Shit, sorry," Simon muttered, and the sound of rustling fabric filled the room before he called out "I'm decent now."

He peaked out between his fingertips and saw Simon was clothed in a pair of tight black briefs, which really wasn't much better for Harry's sanity, but at least it wasn't nothing. 

His head flared with pain again, and Harry groaned, falling back against the fluffy pillows, covering his head with the duvet. 

The sound of footsteps grew closer, and Harry felt the duvet get pulled down. "Y' have a headache?" Simon asked gently, laying his hand over Harry's forehead to check his temperature. 

"Yeah," Harry grumbled, "and I'm pretty sure I'm still high."

Simon's answering laugh was loud and bright, and it would have made Harry smile if it hadn't been for his pounding head.

"I'll be right back," Simon said after he stopped laughing, the sound of his soft footsteps left the beside, before returning again moments later, and Harry opened his eyes to see a hand offering two pills and a bottle of water to him. He accepted them gratefully, swallowing the pills dry before drinking half of the bottle.

Harry set the water on a bedside table, and laid back against the pillows, closing his eyes and falling asleep to the sound of Simon walking around the room, quietly humming to himself. 

 

When Harry woke up again, his headache was mostly gone, and he was sprawled over someone's lap. 

Smiling and turning his head, he felt his face fall when he saw that it was just Manny.

"Well hello to you too," Manny laughed, looking up from his phone. "You mad that I'm not your boyfriend?"

Harry scoffed, too comfortable to move from the spot, so he settled for poking Manny roughly on the stomach, causing for him to curse.

"He's not my boyfriend, and what time is it?" Harry asked, voice cracking as he rubbed his eyes.

Manny looked back down at his phone. "It's 11:47. Everyone's downstairs cleaning up the mess. His parents are due back from their trip at 4." 

Nodding, Harry finally sat up, groaning when the room around him wobbled. "I have to take a piss," he muttered, getting out of the comfortable bed and walking to the bathroom.

He didn't bother to close the door after himself, so he heard Manny's inquiry, "So why were you in Simon's bed? I woke up and tried to find you and couldn't, and he told me you were in here." 

Flushing the toilet and walking over to the sink to wash his hands, Harry rolled his eyes. "We didn't fuck if that's what you're digging for." He studied his reflection in the mirror, and winced.

His eyes were still bloodshot, and his hair was literally sticking up everywhere, even when he ran his wet hands over it it still wouldn't flatten.

"I'm not really digging for that," Manny continued when Harry walked back into the dark bedroom, "but I can smell the weed on you from here."

Harry plopped back down onto the bed with a sigh. "I lost you in the party, went upstairs and out onto one of the porches, and he came out not long after. We shared a joint, and that's all I remember." He really hoped that he wasn't too embarrassing. 

Manny looked up from his phone, "You didn't even kiss him? I'm disappointed Harold Christopher George Lewis." 

Scoffing, Harry turned over to shoot Manny a disapproving glare. "As if he would ever want to kiss me, Manny. He's probably the straightest guy ever."

"Actually he's bi." Manny said, smirking at Harry's shocked expression.

"No, you must be shitting me."

Manny rolled his eyes. "Would I ever lie to you about something like this?" No, Harry knew he wouldn't. "Anyway, I asked JJ about it last night, because he's known Simon the longest, on the dl, you know, just offhand. Anyway, he said that our resident co-captain swings both ways, but that he's been having quite the dry streak lately." 

Harry blinked, trying to comprehend this new information. There was a possibility, however slim, that Simon could be interested in him, one day? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day, because that last one was kind of dead


	4. A Shit Day Becomes a Whole Lot Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get a little more fluffy
> 
> ALSO:  
> texts/dms are formatted like they are on smartphones, I kinda changed it from the first chapter rip forgive me

The Monday following Simon's house party, Harry still had a headache, but that could probably be attributed to the geometry exam he had rather than any aftereffects of alcohol. 

It was second period, and since he and Manny had study in the library, they were camped out at one of the tables by the window, hunched over their review sheets. Harry usually liked math, since it was something to focus on, and wasn't abstract like some readings in English class, but geometry was harder to wrap his head around. 

Manny had already finished the review sheet, and was now working on extra problems from the book, while Harry was only finished with three fourths of the questions. He had already asked Manny for help on one problem, so he felt bad asking again.

The chair next to Harry was suddenly pulled out, and Harry was shocked to see Simon Minter plop into it, a can of red bull in one hand and a physics textbook in the other. "Hey, I didn't know that you two had study this period," he greeted cheerily.

"Yeah," Manny said, looking up from his work, "we have bio lab Wednesday's and Friday's, but every other day we're here." 

Simon nodded, peering over to look at Harry's paper. "Ah, geometry. Who do you have? Cygan?"

Harry grimaced a little. "Yeah, and we have an exam next period." He was going to be so fucked if he didn't figure this question out, so he reread the problem again.

13.  _Find x, PQ, QR, and RP if PQR is an isosceles triangle with PQ ≅ QR, if PQ = 2x+1, QR = 3x-8, and RP = 5x-3._

It felt like the way to do it was so obvious, on a regular day he would be able to do the problem fine, but his brain was just so muddled that it was like reading hieroglyphics. 

"D'you need help?" 

Harry looked over at Simon's questioning face, and flushed. "I... I understood it Friday, so I didn't finish the sheet, and now, going over the ones I didn't do, they're just not making sense to me." He didn't know why he felt compelled to explain himself to Simon, but the words just rushed out of him, like water from a spout.

Instead of looking unimpressed by Harry's explanation, Simon just nodded in understanding. "It happens to the best of us. Which one are you having trouble with?"

Pointing at the question, Harry chewed his lip as Simon read it, before pulling a red pen out of his bag.

"Okay, first off, I would draw the triangle, just to have a visual diagram, and it's a good habit to have for later on in the year." Simon said, before drawing a triangle and marking all of the points and values. "Secondly, what does this symbol mean?" Simon asked, circling the ≅ with his pen. 

Harry sighed inwardly. He wasn't stupid, he knew the terminology, just not how to get to the answer. He decided to humor him though, because he was Simon. "Approximately equal to."

"Right, so, what does that mean about the two values?" Simon asked, not giving Harry the answer right away, but leading him to it.

That the sides PQ and QR were equal to each other of course... oh. _Oh._ Harry cursed himself, picking up his pencil and wishing that he could stab himself with it. 

"Thanks, I get it now," He muttered, pulling the sheet closer to him and scrawling out the work, finding the answers easily.

Simon turned away with an easy "No problem," and took out some of his own work to review.

 

Harry wound up acing the exam. 

 

"I don't get it," Manny exclaimed, throwing his pencil onto his desk. 

It was Thursday, three days after Simon had helped Harry in the library, and the two freshmen were doing their homework before practice, which was at 5:30. 

Harry looked up from where he was lounging on Manny's bed, making flashcards for his French terms. "Don't get what?"

"Why you and Simon don't just date already."

Harry, who had just taken a sip from his water bottle, nearly choked, coughing desperately and covering his mouth as he glared at a smug Manny. "Where the hell did that come from?" He croaked once his coughing died down.

Rolling his eyes theatrically, Manny explained. "Literally today in study all you two were doing was making heart eyes at each other and talked about FIFA, I felt like a third wheel." 

Now it was Harry's turn to roll his eyes, "Just because we talk to each other doesn't mean we should date."

"No, but the fact that you want to suck his dick does." Manny shot, giggling uncontrollably at Harry's horrified, flushing face.

Spluttering, Harry threw his pen at Manny, unfortunately missing. "I never said that!"

"You never denied it either!" Manny exclaimed, hunched over as he wheezed with laughter.

Deciding that there was no point in denying it, Harry just muttered "fuck off," before going back to his French work, shaking his head at his friend's absurdity. 

 

When they got to the pitch at 5:00, thirty minutes early because Tobi had to talk to the coach, the sky was dark with ominous clouds. 

"I hope they cancel it," Manny muttered, looking up at the sky as he laced his practice boots tightly.

Harry looked over from where he was doing stretches, sighing softly when he felt his knee pop. "Nah man, we need as much practice as we can get, the first match is in two weeks."

Chris walked over, throwing down his bag with a sigh before collapsing onto the turf. "I hope they cancel practice," He groaned, pointing at where the coach and the two co-captains were conferring.

"Right?" Manny asked, taking a sip of his water. 

Still stretching, not happy with the way his joints were sore, Harry returned the fist bump that the team's goalie, Hugh Wizzy, offered as he walked by. Most of the team was there by now, all looking slightly depressed and murmuring to each other, hoping for a cancelled practice.

Harry personally thought that they were all being silly, he loved practicing in the rain. 

Eventually, the coach and co-captains walked over.

"We've decided to go on as planned with practice for now," The coach announced, rolling his eyes when he was met with a couple of groans, "but, if there's any thunder, we're cancelling." 

The coach then made them all run eight laps around the field, obviously annoyed about the slight resistance that some of them had about having practice. 

Poetically, halfway through their laps, the heavens opened, and fat raindrops poured down on all of them. "Fucking hell," Manny muttered, pulling the hood of his jumper over his head, much to Harry's amusement.

 

After the laps, Tobi led everyone in a quick ball handling drill, before the coach ordered for them to have a scrimmage. 

Harry had been passing the ball to Manny when it happened. A muscular boy, Harry was pretty sure his name was Marcus, went to tackle the ball from him, in the process knocking his left leg roughly to the side.

Struggling to find purchase in the wet pitch, Harry couldn't help but fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes, twisting his leg in the process. 

"Fuck," He muttered, going to get up and chase after Marcus, only to fall back onto the turf in pain, clutching his calf when he felt a muscle contract. Usually he had a pretty high tolerance for pain, but this cramp had him biting his lip to hold in a whine. It had been a long time since he had a cramp this bad.

He felt someone lift up his legs, and he almost cried out in pain when it forced his calf to stretch. Opening his eyes, he saw no one other than Simon grasping his ankles, looking down at him, concern evident on his face. The tall blonde's lips were moving rapidly, but Harry couldn't hear him over the blood pounding in his ears.

"Shit," He groaned, raising his fist up to his mouth to bite when he felt his muscle spasm again.

The sky seemed to weep tears of regret as Harry struggled to hold in a continuous moan of pain, and when his calf muscle finally relaxed after contracting for what felt like hours, but was probably only thirty seconds, he nearly cried in relief, gulping in deep breaths as Simon laid his legs down before helping Harry to his feet and guiding him over to the sidelines.

Harry sat back down with a sigh, waving away Manny and a profusely apologizing Marcus, before accepting the lucozade that Simon offered him gratefully, watching as the scrimmage continued, his teammates playing a lot more careful now on the wet pitch.

"You okay?" Simon asked, crouching next to him.

Looking over, Harry flushed when he realized how close Simon was to him. He looked so good, the rain plastering his usual quiff down to his head, and making his cheeks slightly red from the cold. Meanwhile, Harry probably looked like a waterlogged rat. He just nodded in answer to his question, not trusting his voice when Simon was this close, before taking another sip of lucozade. 

Instead of going back to the scrimmage, Simon stayed with Harry for the rest of the practice, which didn't last for much longer when a strike of lightening flashed across the sky, followed quickly by the distant rumble of thunder.

The coach blew his whistle and dismissed everyone, which was both good and bad; good, because Harry was starting to get a little cold, but also bad, because this meant that he would have to get up and walk to Tobi's car. His leg didn't exactly still hurt per say, but it was definitely tender, and he knew if he stepped wrong the pain would start all over again. 

Tobi came to collect Harry as Manny jogged to grab all of their bags. 

Simon, surprisingly, didn't leave Harry's side until he was safely in the backseat of Tobi's car, which made Harry embarrassed as well as flattered. 

"Bro," Manny exclaimed once he'd sat in the passenger seat, watching Tobi and Simon talk outside of the car before turning back to glance at Harry, "you good?"

Nodding, Harry croaked out "Yeah," before turning sideways in the seat to allow his leg to stretch, sighing softly at the discomfort.

"It's funny how lover boy was one of the furthest people away from you, and yet got to you first," Manny muttered, peering through the windows, probably trying to eavesdrop, "along with the fact that he didn't leave your side." 

Harry rolled his eyes, "Firstly, he's not my 'lover boy'," he used finger quotations around the words, "and secondly, can you stop being so conspicuous." 

"Bro, I'm just saying, he obviously cares about you." 

Sure, Harry wanted to think that too, but for some reason his brain kept pushing his hopes down, telling him to be careful, or his heart would get broken. 

 

Later that night, Harry was lounging on his bed, fresh from the shower, and watching Game of Thrones when his phone dinged with a Twitter notification.

**_Wedgeman Simon Followed You!_ **

**_Wedgeman Simon sent you a direct message!_ **

What the hell? Harry pinched his thigh, checking to see if it was a dream. The resulting pain almost made him yelp, so he picked up his phone and unlocked it, blushing when he read the dm. 

**hey, i just wanted to check in on your calf**

Unsure of how to reply, he wasn't used to people besides his parents and Manny and Tobi caring, Harry bit his lip before typing a quick, hopefully adequate response.

**it's loads better, ty**

Almost immediately the read check appeared under his dm, and then the ... appeared, making Harry flush harder. 

**that's good**

**what're you doing**

Shit, should Harry tell the truth and risk seeming like a nerd, or lie? He decided to be truthful.

**watching GoT, hbu**

The response came directly after the dm went through.

**love GoT**

**and I'm at chipotle, was craving a burrito lol**

Harry couldn't help but giggle a little.

**yeah chipotle is great, i would legit kill someone for guac**

**relatable**

 

 

Unbeknownst to Harry, Simon added something extra to his order before he left chipotle. "Hey, sorry, can I also add two sides of guacamole and a bag of chips and two fountain drinks please." 

The cashier nodded and rang up his order, and when he went to fill the drinks he texted Tobi.

**hey man, what's Harry's favorite soda**

**...**

**he usually just drinks water**

**but probably diet coke, why?**

Simon grinned at Tobi's instantaneous responses, filling both cups up with diet coke as he typed out another text. 

**just want to surprise him**

**also, where does he live**

The responses were enough to make him laugh aloud.

**you're whipped already bruv**

**and you two aren't even together, it's mad**

**he lives on my street, just #462**

 

 

Ten minutes later, Harry got another notification on his phone. He picked it up quickly, taking a deep breath before he checked who it was from. Simon hadn't sent anything after 'relatable', and Harry had worried that he said something wrong, what if the older boy was allergic to avocados or something and he offended him? He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn't help it.

It _was_ from Simon.

**hey, go to your front door for a second**

Harry squinted at the screen. What? Had he accidentally texted Harry instead of someone else? Pausing the TV, he dmed the other back before bothering to get out of bed, hope building in his chest even when he tried to squash it.

**me?**

**as in, Harold Lewis?**

The other responded quickly.

**no, the queen**

**yes you, silly head**

Harry practically shot out of his bed, tiptoeing past his parents' dark room before running down the stairs, skipping the squeaky one at the bottom, and finally reaching the front door. It was almost 10, so it was dark outside, but Harry could see that someone was definitely out there.

Opening the door, he almost started crying when he saw that it was Simon, a drink in one hand and a bag of chipotle in the other. What the hell?

"Hey," Simon greeted, grinning at Harry's shocked face, "sorry to just show up, but I wanted to give this to you," he brandished the bag and the drink to emphasize.

Unsure of what to say, Harry was frozen into place for a couple of seconds, before he finally returned the taller boy's grin and stepped out of the house to wrap his arms around his torso. Simon returned the hug instantly, wrapping his arms around Harry and laying a cheek on top of his waylay curls, chuckling a little.

"Thank you," Harry finally managed to mutter into Simon's chest, inhaling his clean smelling cologne deeply.

The other boy just hummed in response, and they stayed like that, wrapped in each other's arms, for a long time. When Harry finally pulled back, reluctantly, his arms were ridden with goosebumps, whether from the autumn chill or Simon's proximity he wasn't sure. 

Their eyes locked when they pulled apart, and Harry couldn't help but gulp when he saw the softness in Simon's gaze. They were still standing so close together that their chests were practically touching, and Harry had to hold himself back from just leaning forward again to cuddle into the other's chest.

"Well, I'd better get going," Simon sighed reluctantly, "thankfully tomorrow's Friday."

Harry nodded, unable to look away from the cerulean blue gaze. Simon handed him the bag and the drink, before leaning down slightly and kissing his forehead, which made Harry gasp. 

"See you tomorrow," Simon said, sly grin back on his face, before he turned around and walked back to his car.

Harry stood there, in slight shock, until Simon's car pulled away. Only then did he snap out of his reverie, and turn back to the door with a grin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, after this things start getting more interesting, so hold in there


	5. Keep on Going

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another house party

When Harry's alarm went off at 6:30, for once, he didn't feel like he wanted to throw the damned thing across the room. In fact, he sat up with a slight grin on his face. Hopefully today would be a good day, considering that it's Friday and all. His good mood totally had nothing to do with the fact that he'll hopefully be seeing Simon sometime today, nope, not at all.

After showering and packing his gym bag with clothes for footie practice, Harry took a long time figuring out what to wear, finally deciding to wear a pair of grey joggers and a thick jumper, because, surprise surprise, it was raining outside (still). Pulling on his favorite red Nikes, he then jogged down the stairs, running a little bit late. 

He only had time to grab a pear and a water bottle before Rosie called out from the living room that Tobi's car had pulled up.

Shouldering both of his bags and biting into the pear, Harry mumbled goodbye to his siblings and mum, before exiting through the front door, blushing slightly when he remembered what happened the last time he'd crossed the threshold. He wondered what Simon had meant with the little forehead kiss, or if he was thinking about Harry like Harry was about him.

It was annoying that he had bio lab today, because he would've liked to have seen the taller man in study.

 

The day inched by slowly, and when Harry and Manny were changing into their PE clothes before last period, Manny's phone dinged. After reading the text, he grinned and fist-bumped the air. "Practice is cancelled!"

Harry looked up from where he was lacing his running shoes, grinning slightly at Manny's glee. "What, because of the rain?" 

"Yeah, apparently the pitch is flooded, and the girls team reserved the gym, so we don't even have conditioning." Manny ran around the locker room to tell the other boys who played football, returning with a grin when everyone cheered. Unlike Manny and the others, Harry wasn't as excited about the cancellation, because it meant that he wouldn't be able to see Simon. It was kind of sad, but honestly he'd been looking forward to seeing him. 

"Oh, and Simon's having a party tonight, I forgot to mention. You in?" 

This fact brought Harry out of his dejected state, and he felt himself nod, "Definitely."

 

Tobi dropped Harry off at his house to let him shower and change, promising to come and pick him up before he went to Simon's.

After showering and pulling on some briefs, Harry stood in front of his closet, wondering what to wear. He could always go for the usual route and wear joggers and a shirt, but he wondered if a change would be beneficial. 

Deciding that he was getting nowhere, Harry plopped down on his bed and scrolled through Twitter for a while. By the time it was 7:30, he still hadn't decided what to wear, so he Facetimed Manny, who picked up before the first ring even ended. 

"Wha's up," Manny asked around his toothbrush, setting his phone down on the counter to run his fingers through his hair. 

Harry sighed and admitted, "I can't decide what to wear."

Spitting out the toothpaste, Manny set down the toothbrush before picking up his phone and leaving the bathroom, walking to his room. "Wear layers probably, because it's cold outside but it'll be hot as hell in there." 

"But like... joggers, jeans, what?" Harry wondered, getting up to stand in front of his closet again, running his hand through his waylay hair that was dried by now. 

They eventually decided on a pair of his nicer black joggers and a grey long sleeve shirt along with a black tracksuit jumper on top. 

Harry pulled on his pirate black Yeezy's before running downstairs, yelling to his mum that he was going to a friend's house, before rushing out of the door and to Tobi's car, grinning at the exhilaration he felt flowing through his veins. 

 

This time when they got to the house, all of the Sidemen were already there and had the basement mostly set up, so Harry and Manny were put on vacuuming and sweeping duty, which Harry would have been more annoyed about, had it not been the fact that Simon looked over every couple of minutes and smiled at him.

By 9:00 everything was all set up, and Harry agreed to do shots with Manny, which probably wasn't a good idea, but Simon's ever present gaze and Manny's excited grin encouraged him. 

Three shots of tequila later, and Harry and Manny were doing passing keepy-ups with a roll of toilet paper, both of them giggling so hard that they struggled to pass more than four consecutive times, and when the basement started to fill up with other people, they stopped and decided to get even more drinks. Manny grabbed a bottle of some amber liquid and started to pour generous shots into two solo cups, and Harry's stomach roiled at the thought of drinking more, but he ignored it and drank from the cup when it was offered to him, clenching his teeth at the burn.

Less than an hour and a half later, and Harry was, to be honest, completely wasted. Manny had gone off somewhere with a pretty girl, which Harry definitely couldn't fault him for, but by now he hadn't seen a familiar face in ages, and was getting kind of miffed. It was so hot and crowded in the basement that he wanted to take his jumper off, but he was so out of it that he could only unzip it with clumsy fingers.

Slightly nauseated from the alcohol and getting jostled around every five seconds by his annoying peers, Harry decided, just like the last party, that some air would do him well, so he went upstairs. No one else had trickled up from downstairs yet, but since it was still pouring rain outside, Harry couldn't go sit on the patio.

"Fuck," He muttered, legs now buckling slightly, so he stumbled to sit on a couch, only to feel bile begin to rise in his throat. Fucking fantastic. 

"Shit shit shit shit shit-" He muttered, his adrenaline filled body now having the strength to carry him to a bathroom, and Harry barely had the frame of mind to shut and lock the door before he kneeled in front of the toilet and threw up. His stomach clenched and twisted uncomfortably as he upended all of the meager contents of his stomach, which was thankfully not much since he hadn't eaten since lunch. 

Afterwards, Harry flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, swearing softly and shaking. It had been a long time since he'd been sick, and he hated feeling nauseous.

A sudden knock on the door startled Harry from his reverie, and he groaned softly, uncaringly lying down on the cool tile of the floor. The person at the door could fuck off and find another bathroom, there must be ten others in this giant house.

"Oi, no fucking in my bathrooms," A familiar voice exclaimed, knocking again on the door, "break it up in there - I need to take a piss." 

Harry froze momentarily, his drunken brain struggling to understand the gravity of the situation, and he eventually heaved himself up, gasping softly in pain as his stomach twisted, before crawling slightly to reach the door, not bothering to pull himself completely up to his feet. 

When he opened the door, Simon's expression changed from one of exasperation to one of surprise and worry. "Shit, Harry? Are you all right?"

Unsure of how to reply Harry just nodded, before his stomach promptly churned again uncomfortably, causing for him to groan and drag himself back to the toilet, feeling the next wave of nausea approaching. Not wanting for Simon to witness him in this state, Harry waved a hand at him, signalling for him to leave, but instead the blonde walked in and closed the door, before crouching down next to him, running a comforting hand up and down his back. 

Harry whined when his stomach tightened again, but there was nothing for it to force out, so he just gritted his teeth and rode it out. Once his stomach relaxed again, he sighed and would've fallen back onto the floor, had it not been for Simon's hand. 

The other boy was murmuring comforting words as he guided Harry to lean against the bathroom wall, but Harry comprehended none of it, as it felt like his ears were stuffed with cotton. 

Suddenly a cold damp cloth was placed on his sweaty forehead, and Harry almost sighed at how good it felt, shutting his eyes and allowing his body to relax for a moment. 

The next words that Simon said Harry actually comprehended. "C'mon Harry, let's brush your teeth and then I'll bring you upstairs."

Harry nodded in affirmation before Simon wrapped his hands under his arms and pretty much lifted him up, guiding him to the sink and opening a toothbrush from it's packaging for him. 

After Harry thoroughly brushed his teeth, he slowly followed Simon from the bathroom, legs slightly weak and still feeling nauseous. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Harry looked at the stairs than back at Simon, feeling exhausted beyond words at the thought of climbing up them.

Eventually, Simon just picked him up by carefully curling his hands under Harry's thighs and lifting them up so that they were wrapped around his lean waist, and Harry, unsure of what to do, gripped the blonde's shoulders with his hands, and leaned his head down against one of his shoulders when his stomach churned again. 

After Simon carried him up the stairs, away from the loud noise of the party in the basement, he brought him into his room and set Harry down gently on his bed.

"I'll be right back," He said, meeting Harry's eyes briefly before leaving the room.

Harry just sat there, dazedly, for what felt like hours, but was definitely less than two minutes, until Simon came back, a bottle of water in one hand and a package of crackers in the other. The taller boy set the food on the bed by Harry, before kneeling down at his feet, which Harry would've probably passed out at had he not been drunk and tired, but all he managed to do in this state was blush slightly. 

Simon began unlacing and taking off his shoes, before asking, "When's the last time you ate?"

Struggling to remember, Harry looked at the time on his phone, 11:19, and did the math in his head. "Around eleven hours ago." 

Simon looked up at him at this, raising his eyebrows disapprovingly, "Next time you drink this much, remember to eat beforehand. That's why you got sick." 

That made sense, Harry supposed, feeling slightly embarrassed at his not knowing. 

After Simon took his shoes off and helped him out of his coat, he made Harry eat some crackers, which he had whined at at first, but eventually acquiesced, and then made him drink the whole bottle of water.

Exhausted at this point, Harry fell over onto the fluffy duvet, not caring anymore about keeping up appearances, mumbling nonsensically. 

Simon pulled the duvet out from under him and wrapped it around him, making the awake, not drunk, inner part of Harry squeal. 

Once Harry was settled in bed, Simon turned to leave, but when Harry realized that he was going, he instinctively reached out and grabbed the other's wrist. When Simon turned back to look at him, surprised, Harry whispered "please don't leave" unthinkingly.

They shared each other's gaze for a heated moment, Harry's hand wrapped tightly around Simon's slim wrist, until Simon eventually nodded. Harry dropped the blonde's wrist, and watched with tired eyes as he made his way around the bed, pulling off his own shoes before getting in the bed under the duvet as well.

The room was silent for a minute and neither of them moved a muscle or looked at each other. It wasn't awkward, per say, more like apprehensive, but Harry still struggled to find a solution to make both of them more comfortable. 

Deciding fuck it, Harry turned over and curled into Simon's side, one arm wrapping around his chest. He then chanced a glance upwards to see how the older boy reacted, seeing how he was looking down at him with a smile, and feeling the room become less uneasy. 

Harry tucked his head back against Simon's chest, smiling when he felt long fingers run through his hair, and the last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a soft "goodnight Harry,". 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks around corner*  
> eyyyy, another chapter will be out very soon


	6. I'm so Into You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

When Harry woke up, an overwhelming number of sensations hit him at once. Firstly, his head literally felt like a truck had run over it, his tongue and throat were fuzzy and dry, and lastly, he felt like he was going to throw up. Groaning groggily, he curled up closer to a pillow and wracked his brain to try to find answers.

What the hell happened last night? And more importantly, where was he?

Opening his eyes slightly, Harry tensed when he saw that he was definitely not alone. Instead of cuddling to a pillow, like he had thought, he was cuddled to someone's chest.  _Shit._  Looking up slowly, as to not disturb whoever it was, Harry was baffled to see that it was Simon, who was sleeping soundly, dark eyelashes brushing against his cheekbones and mouth open slightly. He looked so peaceful and soft.

As strange as it sounded, now that Harry had opened his eyes, he could pinpoint the warmth of where both of their bodies connected. Simon was, for the lack of a better word, cradling him to his collarbone, one arm wrapped around Harry's slim waist while his other hand supported his head, and Harry had one of his legs thrown over Simon's, positioned in a way that he was actually partially on top of the older boy.

Forgetting slightly about his headache, Harry tried to think about how he could get out of the position without waking Simon, deciding that the best way was to try to slip down and out.

Starting to wiggle down slowly, never taking his eyes off of Simon's face, Harry started the slow journey downwards. He thought that he was doing quite well, and had gotten down to the other's middle chest, until Simon tightened his arms around Harry, causing for Harry to stiffen and pause, before actually rolling over on top of the poor younger boy, consequently forcing Harry onto his back.

Simon grumbled something unintelligible, before nestling his face into Harry's neck, his breaths slowly evening out as he fell into deep sleep again.   
  
Oh shit, Harry cursed inwardly, realizing now that there was nothing he could do. He was back to square one - actually, in a worse position than square one, with Simon now almost crushing him. The taller boy had an arm across Harry's chest and a leg between Harry's, and while he was a lanky guy, Harry now realized that he was far heavier than he looked.

It was actually kind of nice, now that Harry was actually still and not freaking out, Simon was warm, and Harry nestled even closer to warm his cold fingers.

 

Harry sat there for a while, counting Simon's soft breaths fanning out against his neck, content to just be, until a phone rang loudly in the silence. Simon's grip on him tightened, and his breaths quickened slightly as he groaned and buried his head deeper into Harry's neck.

Since Harry was pinned under Simon, and also too lazy reach over for the phone, it eventually stopped ringing, making Harry sigh in relief. Until it started again, grating Harry's ears with it's shrilly notes.

Deciding now that it must be something important, Harry poked Simon's side delicately with the hand that wasn't pinned beneath the blonde boy, trying to wake him up.

"Simon, your phone," Harry whispered, nose brushing against short blonde hair to direct the words into his ear.

The arm draped around his chest tightened even more, while the older boy's other arm reached out blindly for his phone, hand slapping several times on his bedside table, before finally grasping the offending object.

Without once taking his face out of Harry's neck, Simon brought the phone to his ear and answered with a sleep rough "'Lo?"

Harry couldn't make out what was said, partly because Simon's free hand was drawing light patterns over his rib cage, which was  _very_  distracting, and also because the tinny voice was a little to quiet and quick to make much else besides emphasis.

"Leave us alone Jide, I don't give two shits about who you laid last night." Simon's almost growl against his neck sent shivers down Harry's spine and made his toes curl. He both did and didn't want for Simon to talk like that to him.

Now, much to Harry's disappointment, Simon removed his face from Harry's neck, the arm that was holding the phone sinking in the mattress to hold his weight, while his other hand reached out to fix his hair slightly, a small smile gracing his sleepy features when he saw Harry's pout face.

JJ's voice on the phone rose as if he was asking a question, which Simon answered with, "Yeah, he's with me," their eyes met before another question was asked, "yes... and no, before you ask." 

Harry smiled happily when Simon brought his free hand to trace his left cheekbone softly, and closed his eyes, enjoying just listening to the soft lilt of Simon's voice and feeling his finger delicately trace his features. He doesn't ever remember feeling this relaxed when he was by himself, let alone with another person, especially someone that he was so attracted to.

"Okay Jide, I've got to go. You'd better come back from her house, I need for you to help clean up." And with that, Simon hung up the phone, tossing it carelessly back onto the bedside table, before returning his gaze to Harry's now open eyes. 

They sat in silence for an indefinite amount of time, just staring into each other's eyes, both lost in thought, until Simon broke the silence first.

"D'you feel better?" The question was soft, almost a whisper, as if he didn't want to break the comfortable silence in the room, before he raised a hand to rest on Harry's forehead, judging his temperature.

Harry just nodded, barely even feeling the affects of his hangover now that he was concentrating so hard on the other boy. Those dark blue eyes could cure anything. 

Crawling up slightly so that his face was level with Harry's, Simon shifted so that all of his weight was on his right arm, leaving his left free again to cup Harry's face. Harry's breath was coming quicker now, in soft pants, and his heart felt like it would thud out of his chest. What was Simon doing? Were they going to kiss? Oh shit, what if Harry had bad morning breath? Then the other boy would never like him back!

Scrunching his eyes shut, partly so that Simon couldn't see the fear in his eyes, and partly because he couldn't take the intensity of Simon's gaze anymore, Harry just curled his right hand around Simon's left bicep and waited, tensing in slight anticipation. 

He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt Simon's nose trail lightly along his jawline, holding back a gasp at the foreign feeling of someone else touching him, and shivering when the other stopped halfway, just breathing hotly against his skin.

"You don't have to be scared," The older boy mumbled, before pressing a light kiss to his throat, "I would never do anything you wouldn't want for me to." 

Harry inhaled deeply through his nose a couple times, relaxing when Simon lowered his hand down to his side, rubbing it up and down slowly. "I-I'm not scared... it-it's just, I've never, you know." Harry stuttered slightly, inwardly face palming at his own incompetence. 

Pulling his face back from Harry's neck, causing for Harry to release an involuntary whimper of distress at the loss, Simon stared questioningly at Harry. "Never what?" 

Chewing his bottom lip slightly, Harry avoided Simon's gaze when he responded with a breathy, "I'veneverkissedanyonebefore."

At least he got that out, even if it was a rushed, jumbled mess. God, why was his life so sad?

When Simon didn't immediately respond, Harry returned his gaze to Simon's, noticing his cheeky grin on the way. 

His next words were enough to take Harry's breath away. "Do you want to remedy that?" 

Unable to do much else, Harry nodded, hoping he didn't look as eager as he felt, but knowing that he probably did, and not really caring. Maybe he was still a little drunk from all the alcohol he drank last night, or maybe it was just Simon that made him feel that in general. 

Or both. Probably both.

Face turning up into a real smile, Simon situated himself so that he was between both of Harry's legs, pushing both elbows into the mattress so most of his weight was off Harry, but still staying low enough that their chests brushed with each breath they took, Harry's admittedly more rapid than Simon's. 

Simon cupped the side of Harry's face with one hand, searching his eyes one last time to ensure that this was what he really wanted, before leaning down and pressing their lips together softly. 

Closing his eyes a couple of seconds in, Harry wasn't exactly sure what to do, so he followed Simon's lead, hesitantly moving his lips in a way that they were almost moving in sync. It wasn't as daunting as he thought it would be, now that he was actually doing it. Once he got even more comfortable, he wrapped his arms around Simon's neck, sighing contentedly into the kiss.  

The kiss wasn't what Harry had originally expected for it to be. It certainly wasn't a Tobey Maguire's Spiderman level of dramatic, or anything of the like really. Rather it was gentle, exploring, almost as if they both were holding back. 

When they parted for air, Simon pulled back, smiling softly as their eyes met, "Are you sure this was your first time kissing?" 

Feeling slightly thrown off by the question, Harry nodded, "well yeah, why?" 

"You're pretty good, that's all." Simon complimented, his smile growing into a full blown grin when Harry let out a shy giggle, before leaning down to connect their lips again. 

This kiss was far different. It was less of an introduction, and more of a long awaited meeting between old friends. It had a certain heated aspect to it that took Harry's breath away, and when they pulled apart for air moments later, his lips tingled from the rougher treatment. 

No words were spoken this time, at least verbally. Both boys shared an impassioned gaze, until Harry pulled Simon down eagerly for another kiss.

The third kiss was the kind that Harry had expected to have. Instead of just a frenzied press of lips, Simon licked Harry's bottom lip, asking for an entrance that Harry eagerly gave him, tightening his arms around the other's neck and wrapping his legs around his waist when the bliss set in. Simon moaned roughly when Harry corded his fingers through the longer strands on top of his head, raising himself higher on his elbows to give himself better access as he lost his last bit of self control and tongue-fucked Harry's mouth, groaning when the younger boy whined needily.

Harry felt his toes curl at the way Simon was being so rough, and yet so gentle with him at the same time. He never wanted for this moment to end.

When they eventually had to pull apart, both panting heavily now, Simon lowered his head down to kiss Harry's pale neck, causing for one of Harry's hands to go down and grasp the older's sweatshirt, grounding himself as he tightened his grip on it until his knuckles turned white. 

Unable to contain his soft whimpers as Simon worked magic on his neck, Harry closed his eyes and shivered in pleasure when Simon grazed his teeth over his throat. He'd never felt anything like this before.

Both boys were so caught up in each other, neither noticed the soft knock on the door, or the one after it, so when the door suddenly opened, followed by a surprised exclamation of "Jesus Christ!" both boys froze, eyes meeting dazedly, before turning to see who their intruder was.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, sorry not sorry about the cliff hanger
> 
>  
> 
> but on a more serious note, I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update, as backwards as it sounds, I'll probably be more productive on this when the school year starts back up, because I'm actually more busy in the summer
> 
> I also wanted to say thank you so much on all the support, it means the world to me!!
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. what's all of your opinions on the new Sidemen drama?  
> (I for one, am sad af, because I love Jide, but I'm also kind of loving these diss tracks, ngl)


	7. Erm, Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the mystery cockblock... and a risqué library rendezvous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for how long it took me guys :/
> 
> But here it is!!!!!

Harry hid his face in Simon's shoulder, unable to meet the intruders eyes. He can't believe JJ walked in on them. This was fucking mortifying. What the fuck... what the _actual_ fuck.

Turning back to Harry, Simon pressed a pacifying kiss to his cheek, before gently attempting to untangle himself from the arms and legs wrapped around him. The older boy managed to unwrap Harry's legs from around his waist, but Harry was in such a flustered state, that his finger joints were practically locked in place. So, sighing softly, Simon rolled over to sit with his back to the headboard, pulling Harry along with him gently.

Finding this new position too comfortable to move much in, even though it was slightly awkward because he was pretty much straddling the older boy in front of his best friend, Harry found himself relaxing when Simon ran both of his hands up and down his back, unable to contain the soft whimper he let out into his broad shoulder.

"Jide, why are you even here," Simon mumbled, nosing at Harry's fluffy hair in a way that made him shiver softly. Fisting a hand in Simon's thick jumper, Harry felt himself slowly drift off at the comforting rise and fall of each breath the older boy took, letting his eyes flutter closed and his breaths deepen.

He didn't even bother half paying attention to the conversation between the two, it sounded mostly like what had happened at the party and so on, and he was practically half asleep when a new voice added itself to the mix.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here then?" Harry could imagine the way Manny's slow drawl would be followed by one of his signature lazy smirks, and he couldn't be arsed to move much, so he released Simon's jumper and did a rude hand gesture to his own best friend, smirking at the laughs from the two older boys that filled the room.

Pressing a soft kiss to Harry's temple, Simon lowered that skillful mouth to his ear and muttered, "I've got to go start cleaning up, but you can stay for as long as you'd like."

Grumbling in irritation, Harry just tightened his grip on the older boy and stayed still, resolutely trying to keep his comfy pillow under him. At first, Harry thought he was doing pretty well, that is, until Simon rolled over on top of him again, not caring about both of their friends watching, and pressing his smirk into Harry's neck and his long fingers into Harry's sides as the younger boy squealed with laughter and flailed his limbs around.

"I've got to go babe, I'd honestly rather not, but it's not optional." Simon mumbled, scraping his teeth along one of Harry's tendons afterwards.

"Nooooo," Harry whined petulantly, grabbing one of Simon's enormous hands and playing with it when the older sat back on his haunches to observe the boy under him better.

They sat there in silence, already having forgotten completely about both of their friends who were only a couple of meters away, Simon studying Harry's delicate features as the pale blonde gently pulled at and resolutely examined his hand. Eventually, Harry looked up and met his gaze, and sighed at the look he saw.

"Finee." He finally relented, slouching further into the feather pillows and releasing Simon's hand.

Leaning down once again, Simon pressed a kiss to Harry's temple when the boy turned his head to the side, and trailed his nose down to whisper into his ear "We can talk later babe, trust me," before getting up off the bed and leaving the room with JJ, leaving a pouting Harry and a flabbergasted Manny.

"What the hell happened last night?!" Manny exclaimed, walking over to the bed to stand by Harry's side, looking a lot like a mother hen, with his hands on his sides.

"Nothing really..." Harry muttered, barely remembering much besides Simon forcing him to eat crackers and drink a water bottle before pretty much tucking him in.

Scoffing at his friend's evident understatement, Manny just shook his head and decided to leave it, since Harry looked like someone took his sweet and threw it on the ground. "Well..." Just as Manny was about to propose for them to venture downstairs and get some coffee, maybe even help clean up some, Harry's jacket started vibrating, which wasn't a great sign.

"Oh fuck," Harry sighed, leaning over off the bed to reach his phone and answering it on the last ring. "'Lo?"

"Harold Christopher George Lewis."

Well shit, he totally had told his mum that he was going out last night? Right?

"Oh, hey mum, what's up?" He tried to be chipper, hoping it would put her in a better mood. Let's just say it didn't succeed.

"I tried to call you six times last night. Six. Where the hell are you? You never told me where you went."

Cringing at her angry/disappointed tone, Harry muttered "At a friend's."

"Well, I expect you home in thirty minutes," and when Harry tried to interject with a "B-but" she cut him off "no buts about it, now get your arse home soon or there will be consequences."

The angry voice in his ear changed to an equally angry and judging dial tone, and Harry leaned back into the pillows with a giant sigh. Why was his life like this?

"It's okay Haz, Tobi can drive us home. Actually, I was really craving coffee, we can grab some quick if you want and go home?"

Nodding, Harry finally got up out of the bed on shaky legs, pulling his shoes and jacket on before following Manny out of the door and away from Simon's rumpled warm bed.

~~~~~~~

For the rest of the weekend Harry did chores around the house and anything he could to get back in his mother's good graces, and by the time Monday came around, he was actually looking forward to going to school. He and Simon had exchanged their snapchats over Twitter, and had talked endlessly, so much so that the older boy was already at the top of his friends list from just two days.

After biology, Harry practically skipped to the library for study, followed by a more reserved but smiling fondly Manny. When they got to the seemingly immense room, the boys went to their usual table, and Harry pulled out a book to at least look like he was doing something when Simon came.

Just as the bell rang, the chair next to him was pulled out and the blonde senior sat down, smiling as he greeted the two freshmen, before cracking open his ever-present can of red bull, and opening his calculus book.

Harry was just sitting there, reading about Mary Shelley and her shitty husband, before he almost jumped out of his seat when Simon rested one of his large palms on his thigh, gripping almost possessively. Turning to look at the older boy sharply, Harry's gaze was drawn immediately to the slight quirk on the older's lip as he did his calculus unaffectedly. Turning back to his book, Harry couldn't help but look over pensively at Manny, checking to see if his friend had noticed.

Manny, seemingly unaware of the situation, was chewing on his pen as he annotated the first chapter of Frankenstein, eyes dragging across the page lazily. Sighing shakily, Harry tried to get back to reading Mary Shelley's backstory, eyes getting drawn to the hand clutching his thigh after every line, and it really didn't help after Simon started rubbing his thumb in circles at the sensitive skin of his inner thigh.

After about ten minutes into the period, Manny excused himself to go to the bathroom, and once his friend was out of earshot, Harry turned and hissed at Simon "What the hell are you doing?"

The older boy dropped his pencil and finally turned to face him, lips pulled up in a lazy smirk. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing."

Eyebrows pulling together in confusion, Harry couldn't help but ask incredulously. "Then why are you doing it?"

Simon's answer was simple, but the words took the breath out of Harry's lungs. "Because I missed you."

With his heart doing back-flips in his chest, Harry felt a blush start to rise from his neck. "You don't even know me." He couldn't help but sass, for lack of a better response.

Leaning closer to Harry, Simon raised an eyebrow playfully. "Really? I thought I knew a lot about you."

"Like what?" Harry challenged, leaning in closer as well, so close in fact that their noses were nearly touching.

Simon's hand left his thigh to drape itself around the back of his chair, fingertips tapping lightly against the younger boy's ribs as he spoke, blue eyes never leaving Harry's. "I know that your favorite color is blue, that you have a younger brother named Josh and a younger sister named Rosie, both of whom who you talk shit about, but clearly love," Harry felt the blush redden to the point that his neck was burning, "I know that you are a confident player on the pitch, but that sometimes you feel unsure of your abilities, which we're definitely going to work on, because you're exactly what the defense needed. I know that you play a lot of FIFA and PES, and I know for a fact that you snore and kick in your sleep." Harry was struggling to contain his disbelieving giggles at the older boy's attentiveness.

"Oh, and lastly, you like your tea and coffee black, which is a totally unexpected character trait and I'm struggling to comprehend it, but I guess you're so sweet already that you don't need sugar in your drinks."

Shoving Simon back with a snort and joking "I'll show you sweet, asshole" Harry got up to both put the biography back and to get away from the tension at the table, because it would be so bad if he popped a boner in the school library of all places.

The biography wall was way in the back corner of the library, away from everyone else, so when Harry pushed the book back in it's rightful place, he squeaked when he felt a warm presence behind him.

"Shhhh," a familiar voice murmured, "it's just me."

Catching his breath, Harry was about to turn around and cuss Simon out for practically scaring the life out of him, when the older leaned down and pulled the thin material of his shirt out of the way to mouth gently at the junction where Harry's shoulder and neck met, his other large hand going to rest at Harry's slim waist.

Unable to stop his soft gasp from escaping, Harry tilted his head to the side to grant the blonde better access, having to press his lips together harshly to stifle a moan when Simon rewarded him with a sweet graze of teeth. Slightly unsure of where to put his hands, Harry decided to prop one of his elbows against a shelf, and he reached the other one back to grab at Simon's on his waist, practically clutching onto him for support. Each touch from the blonde made his skin feel tingly, and he was trembling when the older pulled back to just breathe hotly against his neck, forehead pressing against Harry's soft curls.

"I just can't help it, you taste so good," Simon whispered, dragging his lips just under Harry's jawline now, "and you smell so good," he inhaled deeply at his neck, and then mumbled even lower, his words vibrating against Harry's already charged skin, "and you feel so good against me" to emphasize his words, Simon pulled Harry back against him, and Harry couldn't help his breathy moan this time.

"God, I want to have you so bad..." The taller boy mumbled against his neck.

"Then why don't you?" Harry couldn't help but whisper, voice surprisingly strong and free of shakiness.

Instead of answering vocally, Simon turns Harry around roughly, and before the younger boy can let another word out, he joins their lips together roughly, running one hand through his waylay hair as his other pressed against the small of his back, holding him close.

Harry can barely let out a surprised moan before he's practically ravished, getting lost in the clash of tongues and teeth, and then, just as suddenly as they were there, Simon's lips left his. Opening the eyes that he didn't even realize he closed, Harry looked up at Simon in confusion and slight anger at the fact that he fucking stopped.

"I'm going to do this right." Simon whispered, more to himself than to answer Harry's question, but it didn't stop Harry from hissing _"You can't just leave me hanging like that."_

Shaking his head and smiling slightly at Harry's ire, Simon leaned down and pressed their lips together again, this time slow and sweet. It still makes Harry dizzy, as if all of his blood rushed to his head and his veins were filled with electricity, and he can't help but wrap his arms around Simon's neck, holding on for the ride once the kiss turned up to be rough and messy again.

Simon pressed him back against the bookcase, making it rattle slightly against the wall, but they were both past the point of caring as Harry lets Simon kiss him until they're both panting heavily, noses brushing as they pulled back to inhale the same oxygen, swollen lips still brushing against the others slightly.

"Fuck." Harry couldn't help but gasp simply, shaking slightly at the way Simon's hands rubbed up and down his sides, as if he was something to be treasured.

"Yeah," Simon sighed, leaning in for one more chaste kiss before stepping back and out of Harry's embrace, leaving the younger feeling slightly cold and vulnerable. At the look on Harry's face, Simon reached his hand out.

Reaching out with his own shaky hand, Harry let Simon curl their fingers together.

They stood there for an imperceptible amount of time, and Harry felt himself relax and his heart rate lower to a more manageable pace, and then, when he nodded at Simon, the taller boy turned around and led him back through the maze and to the library table.

When they got to it, Manny was already sitting back in his spot, and if he saw the way they were slightly ruffled and how their hands were locked together, he didn't comment on it, for once. They all just sat there for the rest of the period, no one pretending to do their work, just sitting there in silence.

The bell rang too quickly for Harry's liking, and Simon whispered "I'll see you later," before letting go of Harry's hand to grab his stuff, dragging his fingers one last time along Harry's neck as he walked away from the table to go to his next class, leaving Harry and Manny sitting there in silence.

"Holy shit." Manny muttered, looking at Simon's retreating back and Harry's slightly dazed face in turn.

Unable to speak words, Harry mumbled in agreement, before gathering his stuff to go to their next period. Marveling the whole time about whether or not his life had turned into some sort of cliché teen romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support, it really means the world to me <3
> 
> Also, sidenote (haha, like the sidemen, get it get it?)  
> would anyone be willing to possibly maybe beta my shit? I would probably be done so much faster if a fresh pair of eyes read over the draft for me, because it's not always the writing the story part that takes me forever, sometimes I'm just too nervous to post it because I'm worried it's bad, but maybe if someone read it before I'd feel better? 
> 
> Anyway thanks again, love you all xoxoxoxo  
> \- Missy

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!  
> Thanks for making it this far!  
> This is my first fanfic that I've ever published, so please be gentle  
> Unedited, so if there's any errors let me know!  
> WIP but I plan to do weekly/biweekly updates, 
> 
> OH YEAH,  
> it's set in England but the school has an American system because I can't figure out the British school system (rip)
> 
> Anyway love you guys, I posted this under my Wattpad too if you'd rather read it there


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